


The Guardian

by zoegears



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-17
Updated: 2015-10-17
Packaged: 2018-04-26 19:59:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5018377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zoegears/pseuds/zoegears
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I'll need all of you for my experiment," Hojo had said.</p>
<p>Gast's gunshot wound wasn't fatal, but with what Hojo had in store for him, he wished it had been.</p>
<p>In the second chapter and beyond, Hojo begins thinking back to how things used to be between them, in a better time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

I woke up to searing pain. I cringed, hands going to my chest. It was wet, sticky...warm. It throbbed, and my fingers curled into my lab coat trying to stop the pain.

The gunshot was still ringing in my ears from before.

I bounced, rising about a centimeter off the floor before my head fell back against the cold metal. I barely felt that pain compared to my chest. Gritting my teeth, I opened my eyes. Metal all around me. A box. A vibrating box? We were moving.

"Watch the road," snapped a familiar voice. I sat up, slowly, hands still grasping my soaked clothing. A chain rattled by my feet and I realized one leg was bound to the floor. As if I could do anything in my condition. 

I groaned and turned towards the voice. A small window was the only thing to break the monotonous gray of the back of the truck. Light streamed in through it, and I looked down.

My gunshot wound had stopped bleeding. Though it still throbbed, the pain seemed to be subsiding. I felt the slightest tingle there--regeneration? I remembered the gunshot, and Ifalna grabbing a materia instinctively, casting something as I writhed on the floor.

_She saved me._  I thought stupidly. Ifalna...Ifalna! I jerked my head towards the window.

"Hey!" I called out. It was barely a whisper. I coughed, tasting blood in the back of my mouth. I took a sharp breath, despite the pain, and called out again, "H-Hey!"

A shadow filled the window before it slid open. Light glinted off round glasses.  _Hojo_.

"So Ifalna did manage to save you," Hojo mused, "I'd heard the Ancients were proficient enough in the healing arts, but...then again, how would I know?  _I_  haven't been experimenting on them for the past couple of years..."

"Where are they?" I choked out. I could feel my voice clearing a bit.

"Who?" Hojo asked innocently.

"Ifalna and Aeris!"

"Oh. They're fine. In the vehicle in front of us, actually. Don't worry, I'd never let anything happen to my precious specimens."

"They're not yours!"

Hojo pulled out a walkie-talkie and clicked it on. "Pepper, do you hear me?"

Static. "Yes, sir," answered the young biochemist.

"Pepper, are Ifalna and the Ancient whelp mine?"

Static, longer this time. "Yes, I...suppose so, sir."

Hojo glanced back at me and shrugged. "Looks like the consensus is in. They're mine."

I glared at him. "Silas, if you think I'll let you harm them in any way--"

"Let me?" Hojo asked, "No, I don't think you'd LET me. But I don't think you're going to have a choice or say in this,  _Professor_."

"Hojo!" I barked, trying to rise to my feet and lunge towards the window. The chain held me back, well out of reach, jarring me and setting my wound to bleeding a bit again. I clutched at it, grimacing as I sat back down on the floor.

"Hm?" He had a hair tie in his mouth and was gathering his long black hair into a ponytail casually.

_He's enjoying this._  I thought.  _That little bastard._

I could hear static on the walkie-talkie again and Hojo picked it back up, placing it to his ear when he was finished pulling his hair back. "What was that, Pepper?"

I heard a soft cry coming through. "It's the baby," Pepper answered, "She won't stop crying."

"Well do something  _fatherly_  then," Hojo sighed.

"S-sir. Um. Okay."

Static. Then, "Gast!" cried Ifalna. "Gast, are you all right?"

Hojo eyed the device, then held it out towards me. "Say hi to the wife."

"Ifalna! Ifalna, I'm fine! Did they hurt you? Are you okay?"

"Yes. My hands are tied, but I'm okay. If they weren't, this truck and everyone in it would be on fire. ...You too, Carrot Top."

I smirked a little. If she could joke--well she wasn't joking, she really would light the truck on fire--then she wasn't in pain.

"Sir, she's threatening to light me on fire," Pepper said.

"Do you have the baby in your arms?" Hojo asked.

"Yes."

"Then threaten her back using the baby."

"Like...like what, sir? Like...I'm going to punch the baby? Because I'm obviously not. I wouldn't hurt our specimen."

"Pepper...when we get back to Midgar I'm going to teach you the finer principles of 'threatening' and 'bluffing'."

"Yes, sir."

Hojo rolled his eyes and began to fiddle with something in the seat beside him. I was thinking fast... what could I do to protect my wife? My little girl?

"Silas...did you really aim to kill me?"

Hojo didn't even glance up. "Of course I did. But, as it so happens, this is a fortuitous turn of events."

I eyed him, but he was still concentrating on whatever he had in the seat.

"Silas, even you know that it would be a waste to lose me."

Hojo snickered and shook his head. "'Even you, Silas'. You always looked down on me, didn't you, Gast? On all of us? Not that you have a choice seeing as you're perched so high on that pedestal of yours."

"No," I answered honestly. I had no idea where he would get an idea like that. I tried to include him in the experimentation, tried to give him all the opportunities a young scientist would want...

"We'll see who's the real monster between us. I do everything you've ever done, and I'm ostracized from the academic community for being too bold. Too harsh. While you're practically a hero!" I heard a click from the front seat. "Well, Gast, here's how it's going to be. You experimented on my wife and son, and I'm going to experiment on your wife and daughter. Fair? Sounds fair to me."

"Hojo, I--"

"Well it's not entirely fair," he said with a smirk, finally deigning to look at me. I heard another click from the front seat. He didn't elaborate on why it wasn't fair.

I took the opportunity to try a different sort of tactic, "Hojo, let me work with you. Under you. You're in charge of the Science Department now... let me work  _for_  you."

Hojo stopped whatever he was doing and turned his full attention to me, "What?"

I knew this was probably my only playing card. I couldn't stop them, not in this state. But if I could stay alive, somehow, in the science department, I could curb the experimentation. Could persuade Hojo, keep them safe from harm...

"I am, scientifically speaking, curious." I lied. "I could work with you, together we could--"

"Wait!" Hojo said a little too gleefully, "Wait." He clicked on the walkie-talkie again. "Pepper?"

"Sir?"

"Let Ifalna hear this."

I felt a pang in my heart. I swallowed as Hojo held the device out towards me again. I hoped Ifalna would know I was lying, that I'd never hurt them, that I was just trying to protect them in any way that I could...

"Go ahead and tell Ifalna your plans,  _Professor_."

"I..." I looked at the ground. "Let me work with you, Hojo. Let me help you with the...experimentation."

 

"...Gast?" Ifalna asked. There was a moment of static before she snapped, "Hojo, take the gun away from his head."

Hojo was practically giggling. "No, no, Ifalna, you misunderstand! He came up with this all on his own! He's betrayed your lives for his own...or is trying to. Tell her it's true, Gast."

"It's..."  _It's not true, Ifalna._  "It's true."

I had never seen Hojo smile so much.

"Gast...you wouldn't." She said, her voice wavering. I glanced at the ground so Hojo wouldn't see me cringing. My hands were clenched tight against the floor.

"He was in charge of the Jenova Project, you remember, Ifalna?" Hojo said, "He experimented on children, soldiers, and more animals than we can even keep track of. I'm afraid science is his real lover. And serve her he shall."

Hojo picked up what he had been fiddling with in the seat. It was a revolver with a silencer on the end. My eyes widened a bit. Did he mean to finish me off now that Ifalna couldn't save me?

"You're right, Gast." Hojo continued, "'Even I' realize you're useful and that it's senseless to lose you. When you lived, I realized a golden opportunity was staring me in the face. We've experimented on fetuses... Hold still now."

He pointed the gun at me and squinted one eye shut to look down the barrel. I instinctively scooted backwards, away from him, my back hitting the back of the truck when he fired. The silencer kept it from deafening all of us.

I winced as soon as I heard the shot, and cried out as it pierced my chest. I didn't realize how quickly I was breathing. This time, it was...different.

I glanced down and saw a syringe protruding from my chest, just a few inches away from my gunshot wound. I grabbed it and pulled it out as quickly as I could, but it was already empty.

"A...tranquilizer?" I asked, eyeing the syringe closely. Before Hojo could answer, I noticed the residue inside the syringe was a sickly pink color. A very familiar pink color.

"Do you feel tired? I want you to be very honest with how you feel. This is for science, after all." He held the walkie-talkie to the side of his head and placed the gun back in the seat beside him. "For the audience in the other vehicle, I just shot the dear Professor with a syringe full of Jenova cells. I've been so curious to see what happens when you inject an adult with no preparation whatsoever."

I began to feel very...ill.

So this was how it was going to end? My heart was pounding. I wouldn't be able to save Ifalna, save Aeris...do anything. I was holding the syringe in my right hand. I noticed my thumb seemed...longer. I glanced at my other hand. The veins were protruding, turning my hand a bruised, angry purple as it swelled up.

I looked up at Hojo. He was holding a small recorder in one hand and the walkie-talkie in the other. "Gast!" I heard from the device. "Gast, answer me!"

Ifalna. I couldn't tell her what was going on. As my skin stretched, I ground my teeth to keep from screaming as long as possible. I finally did, letting it all out, falling face first into the floor, curling up in pain. My glasses broke and fell away from my face as I hit the floor. My left eye was bulging--I couldn't close my eyelid over it anymore.

I turned my eyes up to Hojo. He looked blurry without my glasses, but I could still see him smirking.

"So tell me what you're feeling." Hojo said calmly.

There was a creaking sound as my spine elongated. My right shoulder split open at the same time I felt a pinch and my vision on my left side went black. I glanced down and saw my enlarged left brown eye staring back at me from the floor. I cried out again, this time my voice much more coarse.

I could hear Ifalna and the baby crying through the walkie-talkie. I had to be strong, for them.  _I have to be strong._

I lifted myself off the floor and vomited violently. I spat something out of my mouth--gods, was that my stomach on the floor? My insides were like eels--new organs were growing in place of the ones I had just threw up.

I stared at them dumbfounded for a moment before glancing back up at Hojo. That damned smile.

"Silasss" I growled, rising to my feet. They had burst through my shoes long ago, and were curling in onto themselves. I struggled to stay upright, clinging to the side of the truck with fingers that were a foot long on my right hand. My other hand was a bulbous mass. My shoulder flinched...there were  _teeth_  there. It gnashed against the threads of my clothes that were remaining.

Seeing my full, still changing, form wiped the smile off of Hojo's face. Instead he was just cocking an eyebrow at me.

"Sample H0512 is changing rapidly. Change began at 1402 hours and is still progressing at a steady pace, time now 1405."

"I am Gassst," I said, my tongue feeling slippery inside my mouth. I concentrated on controlling it and keeping my balance. "Silas, I failed you. You were meant to be...so much more than this. But you'll never get out from beneath my shadow. Never have what you really want. You'll always be a second-rate scientist--you never had it in you to be anything but that. I realize that now. You're going to be incomplete until the day you die. And then you will be forgotten."

Hojo glared at me, smile definitely gone now. For a moment it was silent, save for the soft crying coming from the walkie-talkie and the grinding of my bones as they shifted in place.

Then a smile crept back onto his face. "Professor Gast, my dear mentor... I would never have you away from your--I mean,  _my_  laboratory. So when we get back, I'm going to place you in a clear cell, so you can watch as I experiment on your wife and child. If the child fails the experimentation, then you can watch as we breed Ifalna for another child. You can watch as I take your place...and mentions of you only exist in journals, textbooks that bore the young college minds, and on your wife's lips as she screams for you to help her. But you won't be able to, will you, Gast? Will you,  _monster_? Will you, H0512?"

I roared, and Ifalna cried out. It was getting hard to think. Words were coming along one at a time, now. "Gast!" Ifalna screamed, "Gast!"

_Ifalna_  was one word that kept coming to mind.  _Ifalna_.

_Ifalna_.

_Love_.

...

_RAGE._

\------------------------------

_A few years later, Ifalna and the child managed to escape from the lab. In a fit of desperation to stop them, Hojo released H0512, the ferocious guardian of the lab, who gave chase to the last remaining Ancients. With a mighty swipe of its claws, it gravely injured Ifalna. Ifalna used her magic--but only enough to keep the beast at bay as she escaped the lab._

_Several hours later, she lay on the steps of the train station, eyes glancing from her daughter to the bottom of the plate that floated 50 meters above her. She had lost too much blood to go on, and was too tired from running and carrying Aeris. A woman came, and Ifalna entrusted the woman with Aeris as her dying wish._

_Ifalna returned to the Planet._

_And many years later, H0512 was released yet again, this time on Aeris's friends who had come to rescue her from the laboratory where she found herself once again. This time, the lab guardian fell. It seemed...tired, somehow._

_It returned to the Planet, where it was reunited with its wife...and a few months later, it's child._

_And together, they rested._


	2. And All That Could Have Been

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hojo begins reminiscing on an old relationship while performing surgery on one of his favorite monsters.

Silas Hojo circled the chamber slowly, and the beast followed his every move. The mouth on its shoulder was letting loose a low rumble of a growl–or maybe the sound was coming from somewhere in its neck…who could really tell with these things.  
  
Hojo stopped suddenly, drumming his fingers on the cell. The beast lunged at the area, raking the cell with its clawed hand and making the most awful scratching sound. Deftly, Hojo moved towards the door of the cell, opened it slightly, just enough for the barrel of the gun to fit through, and shot the tranquilizer dart. The beast didn’t even seem to feel it, it just scratched at the same area once again before it started to waver.  
  
Silas shut the door back, moving as quickly as his age would allow, grabbing the IV and dissection kit he had left nearby. He waited a moment after the beast hit the ground, at least a moment–he’d made the mistake of not waiting before and had nearly lost a leg–before heading inside.  
  
He crouched beside the left arm; it was bulbous and misshapen and covered in veins that were easy to pierce. He started the peripheral IV line and got the paralytic flowing just as the beast had started to twitch slightly. Within another minute the twitching had stopped. Hojo stood up and nudged the beast with his foot, then swung his leg back and kicked the beast in the thigh. The beast let loose a whine from…wherever it let loose whines. Paralyzed, but with intact gross sensation, respiratory, and cardiac function.  _Perfect_.  
  
He unzipped the dissection kit and pulled out the scalpel and a probe. He eyed them, and felt a distant giddiness that he once had as a boy when he had been allowed to dissect his first animal in school. Well. It had  _supposedly_  been his first animal.  
  
He moved over to the right arm of the creature, where the mouth in the shoulder of the beast sat slightly open. His eyes moved from the mouth to the single brown eye that was staring upwards at the ceiling of the cell. He couldn’t look at it for long–it seemed too small for a creature of this size, and it was. It was a perfectly normal human eye.  
  
Hojo turned his attention back to the arm of the creature and crouched beside it, sliding a towel under the shoulder before sitting down. He tapped the scalpel against his cheek as he mentally marked where he would be cutting–an inch distal to the gaping mouth. He pulled the scalpel away from his skin, remembering sterility issues as quickly as he remembered that in this particular case he didn’t care.  
  
He drew the scalpel along the skin, cutting the epidermis, then dermis. The beast was letting out small grunts between high-pitched whines. Hojo ignored them and began to carefully cut into the muscle. The blood flow was getting substantial as arteries were cut, but the towel was doing its job and he was ready to cauterize any of the major ones. Having the beast bleed out just wouldn’t do.  
  
Then the beast let out a moan, and Hojo had to pause as a shiver ran up his spine. The sound was so familiar, and he had long buried the reason why. He hesitated for a moment, then resumed cutting, gritting his teeth as though he could stop the sudden unwanted flood of memories.  
  
———  
  
When they were finished, Silas left to take a shower while Gast changed the sheets. When Silas emerged, naked and toweling off his long black hair, he found Gast sitting in his boxers by an open window finishing off a cigarette. Gast was taking a long drag on the remnants of it before Silas caught his eye. Gast gave him a little smile before leaning over and exhaling the smoke in a long stream out the window. The room still smelled faintly of smoke anyway–it always clung to Gast and his clothes, which were scattered everywhere. While Silas had once been mildly irritated by the smoke, he found himself beginning to find it comforting. Familiar.  
  
Gast leaned over and put the cigarette out in the ashtray while Hojo rummaged through the clothes on the floor with his foot. Silas found his own pair of boxers and picked them up with his toes, a question on his face.  
  
Gast shook his head, “nah”, and made his way to his side of the bed, slipping his own off before sliding beneath the covers. Silas half-smirked and dropped his boxers before joining Gast in bed on what had become his appointed side. He settled in, facing Gast. Gast leaned in close, and bonked Hojo’s forehead gently with his own before touching his nose to Hojo’s. Their glasses were dangerously close to one another, so Gast pulled away, taking off his own glasses and setting them on the night stand before taking off Silas’s and placing them beside his. As Gast clicked off the lamp, Silas tried to stifle a yawn, but it was little use. It had been a long day.  
  
“Tired?” Gast asked, resting his head beside Silas’s once again, and Silas nodded.  
  
“Then don’t worry, you can sleep in tomorrow. I’ll handle breakfast,” Gast said, “Sleep well.”  
  
“You too,” Hojo murmured. Gast kissed him deeply goodnight, and the taste of the cigarette lingered in Hojo’s mouth after he pulled away. Hojo rolled over, his back facing Gast, and Gast put an arm around him. Silas could feel himself drifting off–he used to have insomnia something awful, but lately it hadn’t been bothering him. He could feel Gast’s breath on the back of his neck and in his hair, and started to drift off to the rhythm of it.  
  
Hojo was nearly asleep when Gast whispered his name, “Silas.”  
  
“Nrr,” Hojo grunted.  
  
“I have something to tell you.”  
  
“Obviously…can it wait until morning?” Hojo said groggily.  
  
“Silas, I think…I think I love you.”  
  
Hojo opened his eyes slowly, unsure if he had heard him correctly. No, he had–the words were sinking in now. He blinked and stared at the wall across the room. They had been dating a few months, and it had moved fairly quickly, but this…  
  
“You think? …How statistically accurate that statement?” Hojo asked, stalling for time.  
  
Gast snickered, “The statement is statistically significant, don’t worry. I do.”  
  
—————  
  
Silas’s hands were shaking as he reached the bone. The beast was shrieking now, and Hojo welcomed the noise. He tried to concentrate on that instead of the past. He glanced up–a mistake–and saw that the brown eye was staring at him. Frowning, brow furrowed, he grabbed the bone saw.  
  
————–  
  
“You’re an idiot,” Hojo said in Wutaian, smiling despite himself.  
  
“…okay, say that again  _really_  slowly this time, and maybe I can get it.”  
  
“No, you won’t, I haven’t taught you the phrase.”  
  
Hojo rolled back over to face Gast, who was grinning. He felt slightly guilty–he knew Gast was assuming the phrase was “I love you” back, but Hojo wasn’t ready to say it just yet. When he was, he would say it in words Gast would understand.  
  
“Teach me the phrase. I want to practice.”  
  
Hojo shook his head, “Not tonight,” and kissed Gast again.  
  
————–  
  
“You’re. an. idiot.” Hojo said in Wutaian. He glared at the ever-staring brown eye. “You hear me? That’s the phrase. You’re an  _idiot_.”  
  
Hojo pulled the arm roughly, severing the last few strands of skin that had held it on, and set it down. The beast continued to scream. Hojo wasn’t sure the beast could even understand language anymore, but for now he pretended it could.  
  
“I never said it. I never said it back,” Silas snapped. The beast’s eye flicked from Hojo back towards the ceiling, then across to the other side of the cell. Hojo glanced over at the IV bag… it was running low. He’d have to get out of there soon.  
  
Taking the arm and the equipment out of the cell, he shut the door behind him, muffling the beast’s cries somewhat. He placed the arm in a new cell, curious if anything would regenerate from the limb. He was sure the beast would grow a new arm. Pretty sure, anyway.  
  
 _The statement is statistically significant, don’t worry._  
  
Silas glared back at the beast in the cell, wondering, briefly, if what had been done to the creature could be reversed somehow… No, he didn’t want to think about that after all.  
  
Hojo rolled up his sleeves and washed his hands of everything.  
  
That night, he did not have insomnia.  
  
But he did dream. Despite himself, he did dream. Of him.


	3. The Fragile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three little fics in one, Gast and Hojo's relationship picks up as the Jenova Project's foundations are laid down.

Silas awoke slowly to the smell of something burning. He was alarmed for a moment before he heard Gast coughing in the kitchen. Ah, it was just the morning smoke signals heralding breakfast. Hojo was glad he had outgrown his asthma–Gast’s place would have been the death of him otherwise.  
  
Hojo kicked off the sheets and stretched. He got out of bed and glanced towards the bathroom. It still had a bit of steam on the mirror, so he figured Gast must have recently taken his shower and was probably puttering around in a bathrobe. Hojo started to go to the closet to grab one for himself when he saw a better option.  
  
He wandered into the kitchen and sat down at the table. He tugged a little at the lab coat sleeves, rolling them back since they were too long for him. The Shinra logo was emblazoned over his breast pocket, and above that “Professor Gast Faremis” was embroidered. Hojo folded his hands together and watched Gast at the stove, wondering if Gast would even notice that he was wearing his lab coat.  
  
Gast was humming to himself as he poked at what looked like scrambled eggs with a spatula. The window over the sink was open, and most of the smoke was clearing the room. Hojo noticed something out of the corner of his eye and turned to focus on it. It was a coffee maker, perched on the kitchen counter, brewing a small pot of coffee.   
  
 _Gast doesn’t drink coffee…I do._  Hojo thought to himself. He allowed himself a small smile–Gast must have gone out and bought one recently. Just for him. It gave Silas a sense of security…and permanence. Hojo wondered if he’d be asking him to move in any day now. He was practically living here anyway, it was the next logical step.  
  
 _And after that…?_  Hojo asked himself. A sort of peace settled over him, and his little smile grew into a full one as his mind raced with possibilities. It was mornings like this, when something as little as a cheap coffee maker made him feel like one of the luckiest men alive. He was with world-renowned scientist Professor Faremis–and knowing that gave him a feeling like he could take on any problem. Overcome anything the world threw at him. Together, what couldn’t they do?  
  
Gast was brilliant in more ways than Hojo could fathom–and he could fathom a plethora of ways in seconds.  _Brilliant,_  Hojo mused,  _And…burning scrambled eggs somehow._  
  
Gast finally took the eggs off the burner and seemed to decide they were done. Finally he caught Hojo out of the corner of his eye and looked over his shoulder, grinning sheepishly.  
  
“Breakfast is, um, ready. Probably a little more ready then it needs to be…” Gast stared at the pan as though amazed he could create such a disaster, “There are some good parts here. You can have those. My ancestors passed on a technique perfect for eating food in this condition.”  
  
Gast carefully divided up the eggs into two plates and surprised Silas with a plate that somehow did contain roughly 90% decently cooked eggs. Impressed, Hojo grabbed the salt.  
  
Gast’s ancestral tradition apparently included drowning the burnt eggs in ketchup. Hojo wrinkled his nose at the bright pile of red on his plate, and just looked downright concerned as Gast shoveled a wad of it into his mouth. Gast caught his eye and tilted his head, confused, as he chewed. Hojo shook his head, rolling his eyes and and focusing on his own eggs.  
  
“Oh!” Gast said, slightly muffled as he covered his full mouth and hopped up. He grabbed a coffee cup and poured Hojo a cup full, setting it down in front of Silas before he tended his now whistling kettle and made himself a cup of black tea. He reached into the refrigerator and pulled out a plate with slices of apples, oranges, bananas, and strawberries and set it down between them. Hojo had to admit that he was relieved to see the fruit plate.  
  
As if reading his mind, Gast said, “I can at least slice up some fruit without burning the house down?”  
  
“I’ll do breakfast tomorrow,” Hojo smirked, “The house needs to air out a bit anyway.”  
  
“Deal.” Gast reached over for the newspaper, laying it out beside his plate and skimming the front page.   
  
“Did you mean what you said?” Hojo asked quietly after a moment of silence between them.  
  
“Hm?” Gast asked without looking up from the paper. He flipped it over and skimmed the next page.  
  
Hojo tapped his fingers on the table, vaguely annoyed. Maybe it was a stupid question. “Last night,” he offered, wondering if Gast was listening. He mentally vowed to drop the subject if Gast didn’t click onto what he was saying this time.  
  
Gast pushed the newspaper away and rested his head on his hands. “What do you think?”  
  
“…nevermind,” Hojo said, looking down at the remains of his eggs. Gast wanted to treat this like a game, when it was anything but that…wasn’t it? Hojo felt a slight pang of fear–what if it  _was_  nothing but a game to Gast? His next thought questioned why it should matter. His third thought was the dawning realization that Gast’s answer  _did_  matter, far more than he had ever intended it to.  _It’s moving too fast._  
  
Silas put his fork down, and stood up, feeling ridiculous for wearing Gast’s lab coat. He suddenly wanted to be alone, at least for a little while, and started to turn to go back into the bedroom to find his own clothes when Gast said, “Silas, wait.”  
  
Hojo took a few steps anyway, as if to show that he was serious, and then paused. “Hm?”  
  
“I did mean it, Silas. There are so many frivolous things in life…and this isn’t one of them. I shouldn’t have tried to tease you with it. I apologize.”  
  
Hojo turned around and nodded, accepting the apology. Still, he crossed his arms and said, “Go on.”  
  
“And I do. …love you, I mean. I love you. I love your dedication, and your ambition. I love the fire that burns in you for more. I love your quirks, and the way you mumble in your sleep sometimes. I love all the little things that come packed with you. And most of all, I love your mind. You inspire me to be a better teacher, scientist, and general knowledge-seeker. I love  _you_  because you’re Silas Hojo. And if you want proof, we have the rest of our lives to gather data and factual support.”  
  
Hojo didn’t know what to say. Ever since Gast had claimed to “think” he loved him the prior night, Hojo had lay there awake wondering why.  _The rest of our lives…_  Did he like the sound of that? It was daunting…but the more he thought about it, the more he liked the sound of it after all, at least at the moment.  
  
 _Gast Faremis loves me. For me. That’s…_  
  
“You’re an idiot,” Hojo said quickly in Wutaian.   
  
Gast smiled, looking relieved, and then suddenly looked determined. Gast tried to repeat what Hojo had just said, but completely butchered the language.  
  
Silas shook his head. “Not even close.”  
  
“Teach me?” Gast pleaded.  
  
“We have a long way to go before you get to that level,” Hojo said, taking his seat again and picking out an orange slice, “Besides, I’ll teach you that one on a special occasion.”  
  
Gast sighed and forked a strawberry, and then stared at Hojo’s chest. “Hey…,” he started, pointing at the embroidered name on the lab coat with his fork. Then he grinned wickedly, “You know I’m going to have to take that off of you before we go to work.”  
  
“That was sort of my point,” Hojo smirked, glancing at the clock on the wall. “You have about…fifteen minutes to get it off of me.”  
  
“Oh, I don’t need  _that_  long.”  
  
“I  _know_. It’s one of those things we just  _have_  to work on…”  
  
Gast sat back in his chair, looking mock-hurt for a moment before he broke the charade. “I don’t know, Silas, I think I understand more Wutaian than you think… I could choose a few choice quotes you’ve managed to say while I’m busy ‘hurrying along’.”  
  
“I have a few new phrases for you to learn…”  
  
“I have something to teach you too.”  
  
Hojo cocked an eyebrow. Gast waggled his back. Hojo facepalmed.  
  
And they were late for work.  
  
————  
  
“Hold  _still_ ” Gast snapped, trying to remember what he had learned in medical school. The light from his ophthalmoscope glittered off of Silas’s dark brown eyes.  
  
“Sorry, it’s kind of  _burning its way into my brain_  as we speak, but I’ll try to just be calm.”  
  
“Hardly,” Gast said with a sigh. “We flushed your eyes with water for fifteen minutes and I’m not seeing any signs of abrasion or lesions. I think it’s purely psychosomatic at this point, but if you want to flush your eyes again, be my guest.”  
  
“I will be because it's  _burning_ , Doc Healing Hands,” Hojo said as he plunged his bloodshot right eye into the eye wash again, “I can see why you decided not to practice medicine.”  
  
“People like  _you_  are why I decided not to practice medicine,” Gast said, inwardly relieved that nothing was indeed burning its way to Hojo’s brain.  
  
Lucrecia poked her head into the room. “How’s the patient?” she asked.  
  
“He’s fine, though he’ll tell you he’s in the throes of death…. by the way, Dr. Crescent, how did that rubber band end up in the beaker of…” Gast squinted, but the label on the beaker was turned away and he couldn’t make out what it was, “In the beaker?” he finished.  
  
Lucrecia shrugged, then disappeared from the doorway. Gast glanced back at Hojo, who had pulled his head back out of the water and was blinking slowly as if to clear them.  
  
“She was flicking rubber bands at you, wasn’t she?”  
  
“You have to admit, that was a perfect strategy shot to blind me so she could go in for the kill.”  
  
“In for the…”  
  
“She takes no prisoners.”  
  
“I’m not going to ask…” Gast sighed. He had been buried in administrative paperwork all day, and finding out that his underlings were having world war rubber band in the lab wasn’t encouraging.  
  
Silas slipped on his glasses, still blinking, “You seem a bit down.”  
  
“I have a video conference this afternoon with the President. I’m trying to convince him that, yes, I do need all of you here working with me, there’s no reason to cut the Science Department’s budget. I’m not looking forward to it, if that’s what you’re picking up on.”  
  
“Ah. Yes, that’s…probably it.”  
  
“If there were just some way to convince him of the Jenova Project’s importance… some way it could directly benefit the company…”  
  
“Knowledge of the Ancients for knowledge’s sake isn’t doing it for him, hm?”  
  
“No,” Gast said glumly. “Knowledge of the Ancients… There really isn’t very much that we have, is there?”  
  
Hojo shook his head.  
  
“Then it shouldn’t… All right, I have some calls to Cosmo Canyon to make.”  
  
“Oh? You have an idea?”  
  
“Maybe. I just need a little more information. It’s a long shot, so don’t count on it.” He sighed, “I really don’t want to have to let go of Dr. Hollander or Dr. Crescent.”  
  
“Or Dr. Hojo?” Hojo offered curiously.  
  
Gast gave him a ludicrous look. “Let go of you? What kind of–” Gast dropped his voice to a whisper, “What kind of boyfriend would I be if I fired you?”  
  
“The boss type. And is that the only reason you wouldn’t let me go?” Hojo asked, “Honestly. Because Dr. Crescent and Dr. Hollander and I are of equal rank.”  
  
“No, that’s not the only reason. I won’t lie, it's  _part_  of it, but not the main reason.”  
  
“Then what have I done that’s more significant than Dr. Crescent or Dr. Hollander? Why do I deserve to stay and either of them go?”  
  
“Because you’ve….shown some leadership qualities that I find desirable around the laboratory, and–”  
  
“Chocoboshit. You’re dodging my question."   
  
"Look, Silas, I…we’ll talk later, okay? I promise I have more to tell you. I just really need to make those calls.” Gast reached out and squeezed Hojo’s hand before turning to leave.  
  
 _You really need some time to think up some more shitty answers, you mean_.  
  
————  
  
Silas and Lucrecia were arching eyebrows at each other while Gast yelled behind the closed door. They couldn’t make out what he was saying, but he sounded pissed off enough.  
  
“We should look busy for when he comes out. They’ve been in conference for a while now,” Lu said.  
  
“Agreed.”  
  
They decided to gather up all the dirty glassware, divide it between themselves, and scrub on it. You couldn’t go wrong scrubbing glassware in a laboratory.  
  
Still, they scrubbed quietly, hoping to make out a few words here and there. The only words loud enough to hear were curse words, so they weren’t terribly helpful.  
  
“I’ve never seen Gast angry,” Lu said, “Does he even get angry? Apparently he gets angry, I mean, but… really. He didn’t seem the type.”  
  
“I heard he’s fighting for our jobs.”  
  
“How do you know that?”  
  
“Because I  _heard_.”  
  
Lu nodded sagely, and stuffed a scrubbing brush down the neck of a round bottom flask.  
  
Eventually the shouting died down and stopped entirely. After a few moments of silence, Hojo said, “I think I’m going to go check on him.”  
  
“Is that wise after all of that?” Lu asked.  
  
“Probably not.”  
  
 _What’s he going to do, fire me?_  Hojo thought as he wandered over to the door. He did hesitate for a moment outside of it before knocking. He didn’t wait for a reply and went inside.  
  
Gast had his forehead lying on the desk and was holding a mostly empty bottle of whiskey. Silas had to smirk–it was so needlessly  _dramatic_. Well. He hoped it was needless anyway. He shut the door behind him.  
  
“Sounds like it went well,” Hojo chirped.  
  
Gast did not lift his head. “…how much did you hear?”  
  
“Honestly not much. The door is pretty thick. I’m sure between the "fuck!"s and "dammit"s you were sufficiently eloquent thought.”  
  
Gast groaned. “Well I saved your jobs.”  
  
Silas eyed the bottle of whiskey. “Did you seriously drink all of that between the time you stopped yelling to the time I came in here? Because…if you did, I’m locking you in the bathroom when we get back to your place.”  
  
“No, I didn’t, it was already like this,” Gast said as he finally lifted his head.  
  
“Well…if you saved our jobs then what are you looking like this for?”  
  
“You don’t want to know how I saved them.”  
  
Hojo eyed him, “Well, I didn’t before, but I kind of do now? You sound like you’ve sold us all into prostitution.”  
  
“Ha! Well at least that would make  _sense_.”  
  
Hojo furrowed his brow, “You’re going to have to give me some details.”  
  
“Sit down. Here. Have a drink. You’ll need it, just wait,” Gast said, getting Silas a glass and pouring him some whiskey. Gast handed the glass to Silas and then drank straight from the bottle.  
  
“Okay. Are you ready?”  
  
Hojo nodded, not entirely sure if he was ready or not. Not with the way Gast was acting.  
  
“So, the Ancients were always looking for the Promised Land, correct?”  
  
“According to legend.”  
  
“And the Promised Land is really fertile. Why? It must have a ton of Mako energy there.”  
  
“Okay.”  
  
Gast smirked pitifully, “And so if Shinra were to find the Promised Land, they would have this whole new drilling ground where they could set up reactors, right?”  
  
Hojo was squinting at him now. “Okay.”  
  
“So I basically promised President Shinra that the Science Department could use Jenova, an Ancient, and put her DNA in a human and make them have the powers of an Ancient and that resulting person would be able to lead Shinra to the Promised Land.”  
  
“…what?”  
  
Gast threw up his hands, “Exactly!”  
  
Hojo stared at Gast as Gast slowly lowered his hands. Gast rubbed his forehead. “You see why I’m a little discouraged? We’re fucked. But damn, President Shinra sure isn’t going to cut the Science Department budget now.”  
  
“Wow. Just… okay,” said Silas, trying to put this all together, “So our future is banking on a potentially made-up place that can be found by this person we 'create’ by unknown methods using a long-dead Ancient with potentially unstable or unviable tissue for such a delicate task?”  
  
Gast held out his hands towards Hojo. “You just summed it up, dear.”  
  
Hojo sipped his whiskey. “Now explain it to me again, but laugh maniacally at the end this time.”  
  
Gast eyed him, sighing. “We’ll have to start with animal models.”  
  
“You aren’t serious.”  
  
“You know how we were talking about firing people earlier? Well this whole department is going to get shafted if we just sit on our asses. We have to produce  _something_.”  
  
“All right. Animal models. So, what, we just inject a rat with Jenova’s cells?”  
  
“Have we tried doing that yet?” Gast asked, completely serious.  
  
“Er. No.”  
  
“Then why not? What do we have to lose? I’ll…come up with something a little more refined than that, I promise you. I already have something of an idea on how we can go about this, I just need to really dig into some journals to confirm a few things.”  
  
“A few things?”  
  
“A metric shit-ton of things, Silas, but I’m trying to be optimistic and pretend we can actually do any of this.”  
  
“Okay. Inject a few rats with Jenova cells. Record what happens. We can handle that. You go journal diving. If you need any help, let me know.”  
  
“Thanks. …I think we might can do this.”  
  
Hojo shrugged, “We’ll all go down together trying, anyway.”  
  
“Right,” said Gast, “What do you say we polish off this bottle, call it a day at the lab, and head home? I think I need to sleep on this.”


	4. We're In This Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hojo executes his diabolical plan to take over the laboratory for a day.

Silas wore a sadistic grin. He had woken up before Gast easily enough. Gast was something of a mild alcoholic in that, if socially pressured, he had a difficult time stopping drinking. When left to his own devices, he had no problems, however. So, after they had polished off the bottle of whiskey in his office, Hojo had encouraged him to have a few more once they returned to Gast’s house. A lot more.   
  
“Twatwaffle,” Hojo had said, “Rectal trumpet.”  
  
Gast had been snort-giggling into a pillow on the couch. Hojo had said a few phrases already, and it was looking as though Gast couldn’t stop laughing. Hojo had never seen him this drunk before, and had to admit that he was happy he hadn’t drank much himself so he could witness it. It was good to know that Gast was a happy-go-lucky sort of drunk, even after a bad day at work.  
  
Gast had started to cough while laughing, then stopped laughing all together, hacking his lungs out. Silas looked at him a bit concerned, then saw Gast go pale.  
  
“Urk,” Gast had choked out, covering his mouth with his hand. Hojo had set a trashcan nearby, just in case of this sort of thing, and slid it in front of him immediately. Gast had leaned over and vomited, then finished up his coughing spell, spitting into the trashcan and sitting upright. Hojo had taken off Gast’s glasses a while ago, since a drunk Gast seemed to forget that he was wearing them and would do things like shove his head into pillows. Hojo hadn’t wanted him to break them, and they were sitting safely on the coffee table.  
  
Gast had reached over and grabbed a tissue from the coffee table, wiping his mouth and nose. “Silash,” he slurred, “I dun feel…so good.”  
  
“You look like a crumpled dollar bill pulled from the g-string of a manwhore at the end of the night,” Silas had said with a smirk.  
  
Gast had stared at him stupidly for a moment, then a wide grin had broken out across his face as he had put his head in his hands, “Silash, don’t… _don’t_ …don’t be so godsdamn funny… Don’t make me laugh.”  
  
“Oh you mean by saying things like–”  
  
“Noooo,” Gast had moaned, swaying to the left and right on the couch. Silas didn’t say anything and had assumed he had tortured Gast enough. For tonight.  
  
“Come on, Professor…” Silas had said gently, leading him to the bathroom where Gast had proceeded to snuggle up to the toilet and vomit a few more times. Hojo had decided to leave him alone, and wander the house.  
  
Gast had left the mail sitting on the kitchen table, and Silas had rummaged through it idly. He had paused as something had caught his eye, and had picked up a particular letter.  
  
The return address had said “The International Academy of Natural Sciences and Progress”. Hojo had flipped it over, and it simply said “Celebrating 100 Years of Advancement”. Hojo had both eyebrows raised–the IANSP was a pretty big deal.  
  
 _Well of course he gets things from them, he’s fucking Gast Faremis_ , Hojo had thought. He had tapped the letter against the table a few times, wondering to himself if he would ever receive such things in the mail, when the curiosity of what was inside had overwhelmed him. Still, it was rude to open other people’s mail without permission.  
  
“Hey, Gast,” Hojo had poked his head back into the bathroom.  
  
“Nnnn,” Gast had replied.  
  
“Can I open this?” Hojo had asked, holding up the letter.  
  
“Don’t…don’t make me laugh…” Gast mumbled.  
  
“I won’t. So is it okay?”  
  
Gast hadn’t even opened his eyes to see what Hojo was holding when he had nodded his head on the toilet seat.  
  
“Thanks!” Silas had walked quickly back to the kitchen, grabbed the letter opener, and tore open the top. He had unfolded it eagerly, and began to read. It was an invitation to their annual gala, where all the top scientists would meet up, network, eat expensive food, and listen to a few speeches on the most important discoveries of the past few years.  
  
Hojo had glanced into the envelope and saw not one, but two tickets. One ticket had “Dr. Gast Faremis, MD., PhD.” on it and the other said “Dr. Gast Faremis, MD., PhD. - Plus One”. Hojo had eyed the second ticket excitedly for a moment, then felt his heart sink.  _There’s no way Gast would take me. No one knows we’re together, and he doesn’t want anyone to know._  Hojo had frowned. Gast would take some lady friend of his, like he was expected to. Silas had tried to accept that, but it had bothered him more than he would have liked. He had glanced into the envelope and saw one more small card covered in a crisp typography.  
  
“Dr. Gast Faremis,” the card had begun, “We would be honored to have you give your speech regarding the conversion of mako into mako energy and materia both naturally and via induction within a reactor. The speech is intended to be roughly one hour long, not including introductions made. Please reply with your intentions to either attend, not attend, or to attend and speak ASAP. Regards, The IANSP Gala Committee.”  
  
“Wow,” Silas had said aloud. He had felt himself swell with pride for Gast–there were so few IANSP speakers, and their speeches were always published in a rather gorgeous little hard leather journal as keepsakes and aired on television as well. By making an IANSP speech, Gast was going down in academia history. He had felt his heart sink a little lower. He would really have enjoyed being able to see Gast make his speech live…  
  
 _Thank gods the Academy can’t see him now,_  Silas had thought, feeling a bit guilty. It was things like this that always reminded him of what an intellectual giant Gast was, and how lucky he was to even  _know_  him, much less work under him.  _Or lie under him_ , Hojo had mused. Gast was, somehow, inexplicably,  _his_ , and he belonged to Gast.  
  
Silas had sheepishly returned to his genius, and found him snoring lightly with his head on the toilet, a string of drool hanging from his mouth down into the water. Silas had knelt beside him, and shook him lightly. “Gast,” he had said quietly. “Gast, come on. It’s time for bed.”  
  
“Mmf,” Gast said, opening one eye lazily. “Silash…Silash, don’t… don’t…”  
  
“I won’t make you laugh. Now, come on, Professor, into bed we go,” Hojo had said, putting Gast’s arm around his shoulder and half-carrying him to the bed. Once he had him sprawled out on the bed, he removed his shirt and pants with practiced hands, leaving him in his underwear and socks. He had pulled Gast onto his side of the bed, and then had tucked him in, kissing his cheek. He had run his fingers through Gast’s brown hair lightly, pulling it out of his face.  
  
It hadn’t been too late, so Hojo had found himself back in the living room with the small pile of journals Gast had intended to read that night. He leafed through them, marking articles with sticky notes that he thought Gast would find interesting until the clock struck 10pm, and then joined his brilliant idiot in bed.  
  
He had tortured him enough last night, sure…but now it was a new day. Hojo coiled the thin rope in his hands…ready for phase 2 of his plan.  _I can be cruel…I don’t know why._  
  
With Gast sleeping heavily, it was easy to tie his hands to the headboard. He used his own knots he had invented when he was a boy out in the woods near Wutai. He could trust they would hold him.  
  
Hojo left him there once he was finished and went into the kitchen, digging around for something easy to make. He set the coffee maker going and put the kettle on, then began to make some oatmeal.  
  
He was busy spicing the oatmeal when he heard a miserable, “Silas…SiLAS!” He smirked, setting a bowl of oatmeal and a small plate of fruit on a tray along with a cup of black tea with a straw. He picked up the tray and carried it into the bedroom.  
  
“Breakfast in bed?” Silas asked cheerily, as though nothing were out of the ordinary.  
  
Gast’s eyes were bloodshot and he eyed Hojo tiredly. “Silas, what are you doing?”  
  
“I said I’d make breakfast, didn’t I?”  
  
“No, why am I tied to the headboard? Did we…? I don’t remember anything from last night.”  
  
“Did we what?”  
  
“This looks a little…kinky,” Gast said awkwardly, wriggling his hands and trying to pull his arms out of the knots. Silas laughed.  
  
“That’s beginner’s play. When I want to be kinky, I’ll make sure you’re fully conscious and aware of what I’m doing. We didn’t do anything last night–you couldn’t consent and I’m not a jerk. Though you did cheat on me by marrying the toilet for a few hours.”  
  
“I what?”  
  
“Not  _literally_ ,” Hojo sighed, and sat the tray down across Gast’s stomach, then crawled back into bed with him, straddling him and sitting comfortably on Gast’s lap.  
  
“Tea, oatmeal, or fruit,” Silas offered, “Which do you want?”  
  
“You can’t be serious,” Gast said, eyeing him, “This is cute and all, Silas, but untie me. Bring your own breakfast in here and we’ll eat together.”  
  
Silas shook his head, “I can’t. You’re staying right where you are.” Silas picked up the tea cup and angled the straw towards him. “At least drink some tea? You’ll get a headache if you don’t.”  
  
“I already have a headache,” Gast grumbled.  
  
“Well it’ll get even worse. Now drink up.” Silas pressed the straw to his lips and Gast reluctantly sipped at it. Silas finally convinced Gast to eat some oatmeal and fruit, and then glanced at the clock. “Oh, hope you had enough for now because I’m going to have to get going to work.”  
  
“Yeah. I know. Untie me so we can go.”  
  
Hojo grinned, “Didn’t you hear me earlier? You’re staying right where you are.”  
  
“…I most certainly am not.”  
  
“I’d like to see you do something about it.”  
  
“I…Silas, stop playing. I have yet another video conference with the President this morning about how Phase 1 of the Jenova Project is going to work and what we’re going to need.”  
  
“You can have the day off. I’ll tell everyone you’re sick. I’ll run the lab today. It’ll be fine.”  
  
“You can’t run the lab,” Gast said incredulously.  
  
Hojo set the tray aside. He didn’t honestly think it was  _that_  farfetched an idea. “Why not? Don’t I have  _‘leadership qualities’_ , Professor?”  
  
“Look, I really need to have this conference with President Shinra. Any other day, you could get away with this. But not today.”  
  
“Your entire plan is chocoboshit. I think I can make up something convincing as well as you can. I’ll give you a full report on how the conference goes, I promise, I won’t do anything irrational.”  
  
“Says the man who tied his boss to the bed!”  
  
Hojo smirked. “I have to get going pretty soon, but I wanted to leave you with a little something to think about.”  
  
Silas lifted up the blankets and sheets with a flourish, disappearing under them. Gast watched as the lump scooted to the end of the bed, wormed its way between his legs, then made its way halfway back upwards again. Gast’s eyes went wide–he had a pretty good idea of where this was going.  
  
And he was right.  
  
After several minutes he was breathing hard, having just finished, with a bead of sweat running down his forehead and down the side of his nose. He coughed once, and Hojo pulled the sheets back, revealing himself as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.  
  
“Now what’s on your mind,” Silas asked coyly.  
  
“Wha…?” Gast said, trying to piece his thoughts back together.  
  
“That’s what I thought,” Hojo said with a smile, throwing the covers off of himself as he got out of bed, then pulling them back over Gast for modesty’s sake.  
  
Hojo dressed himself quickly, throwing on his lab coat last as he gathered his things.  
  
“Wait…Silas…you can’t…”  
  
“See you! Oh! Here!” Hojo clicked on the TV and put it to the Food Network. “There. That should be good for you. I don’t want you to be bored. Learn something. Ta!”  
  
“Fucking.  _Silas_ ,” Gast said, his headache throbbing as the front door slammed shut. “Fuck.”


	5. Hesitation Marks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hojo lets Gast know how his meeting with President Shinra went, Gast surprises Hojo with a present, and a fight breaks out between the two of them.

Silas picked through his pockets for the key to the front door. He had been walking fast, and would have skipped back to the house if not for dignity–the morning had been a blur. He’d stepped out of the office for lunch so he could come back to check on Gast. He had never intended to leave him tied up all day–just long enough to make it awkward for him to come in to work. Finally he found the key, clicked the lock, and stepped inside…  
  
…only to find Gast sitting at the kitchen table eating a sandwich and reading one of the articles Hojo had left a sticky note on the previous night.  
  
“I left sandwich stuff out on the counter for you,” Gast said, taking a bite of the sandwich and turning the page of the journal.  
  
“How’d you know I was coming back for lunch?” Hojo asked, setting his stuff down and slipping his lab coat off, hanging it on the back of one of the chairs at the dining table.   
  
“Because,” Gast said with a smirk, “I was going to be furious if you had really intended to leave me tied up in there for the entire day otherwise. I was pretty angry this morning, but I’ve had a few hours to cool off, so I’m not going to bite your head off. In fact, since I had the morning off, I had the opportunity to go out and pick up a present I had made for you.”  
  
“A present?” Silas felt a pang of guilt…almost. His coup of the lab for the day wouldn’t have had to have involved such an elaborate plan if Gast would just take a day off once in a while, or give him a chance at running things. He knew he could handle more responsibilities than Gast was giving him, and how better to prove it than to tie him up and take over the lab?  _Hard work, I suppose, but that’s not nearly as much fun._  
  
“Mhm, but first you have to tell me how the meeting went. I have little doubt you had any problems handling the minor day-to-day administrative issues, but that’s had me worried. The President can be…prickly around matters he doesn’t fully understand.”  
  
“It wasn’t a video conference, he came by in person,” Hojo started.  
  
“ _What?_ ” Gast half-choked on his sandwich.  
  
“Yeah he cut his vacation short and flew in last night apparently. He's  _really_  excited about what we’ve promised him.”  
  
“So what did you do?”  
  
“Milk that excitement for all its worth, obviously,” Hojo said, going over to the counter to make himself a sandwich, “It went really well, I think, so you can stop worrying. Well, except the part with the Turks having to storm the lab to put down a creature and the President nearly losing his foot, but other than that, great!”  
  
“How did… I mean you two were just  _talking_ , right?”  
  
“At first…sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself, let me back up,” Silas said, assembling his sandwich. “He came down to the lab and surprised us all. I told him you were sick for the day, but that I knew the plan fairly well and that anything I didn’t know you could fill him in on later. He was fine with that. So, anyway, I’ll spare you the boring parts–I basically just repeated what you said last night about what we’re doing and he nodded a lot. Now, the fun part: we’re getting an  _entire_  secondary lab in Nibelheim, complete with a  _fucking mansion_  all to ourselves so we can carry out this experimentation. Oh! And it’s going to have a secret passageway and a spiral staircase down into our library/state-of-the-art laboratory. I pretty much told him these specifications on the fly, but I like the idea the more I think about it.”  
  
“You designed a mansion laboratory? In  _Nibelheim_? That’s halfway across the world! What’s wrong with our lab here in Midgar?”  
  
“See, that was the President’s idea, and I agree with him. He wants us to have a laboratory out there because the purity of the Mako in Nibelheim is so high. In addition to our crazy create-an-Ancient plan he wants us to test Mako exposure in humans based on case studies done on humans that have been exposed via accidents or whatever. If possible, he says, he wants us to combine the experiments in the end to create some sort of Mako-superpowered-ultimate-Ancient-human. Isn’t that so science-fiction? I love it!”  
  
“Tell me you didn’t promise him we could deliver on that one.”  
  
“Of course I did! You should have seen the look on his face. I bet you’ll get a raise.”  
  
“Silas! You weren’t supposed to make our impossible experiment  _even more impossible_!  
  
Hojo shrugged, "No harm done. I mean, if we can deliver on even a quarter of the things we’ve promised, I think the President will be happy enough.”  
  
“A quarter of zero things is still  _zero_ ,” Gast said, exasperated.  
  
“Where’d your optimism go? You were so optimistic yesterday,” Hojo sat down with his sandwich and took a bite.   
  
“Why are  _you_  so optimistic? Even under the most ideal of circumstances, which we are far from, this is going to take years of work. I wanted to get you working on a few projects to your name, get your name out there, build you up into the great scientist I know you can be…but you can’t become a great scientist with shit projects!”  
  
“Oh, some interesting things are going to come out of this project. I know because of what happened next.”  
  
“Oh dear gods.”  
  
Hojo smirked, “So, the President wanted a final demonstration before he started throwing money at us. I said sure, I’d oblige him.”  
  
“A final demonstration of  _what_  exactly? We haven't  _done_  anything, we just made the entire thing up yesterday.”  
  
Hojo chuckled and shook his finger at Gast, “No, no, I pretended we’ve totally been doing this for weeks now. I took a rat, and I injected it with Jenova cells for him.”  
  
“Oh dear gods.”  
  
Hojo smiled darkly, “It was  _amazing_. I wasn’t even sure if anything would happen, which really would have made us look bad, so I thought that was kind of ballsy on my part to give it a try.”  
  
“Ballsy, stupid, what’s the difference?”  
  
“The difference is that after a moment, that rat began to  _grow_. It mutated, teeth elongating, skin splitting open to make way for new limbs, and there were secondary  _mouths_  on the thing. And eyes! I counted five new eyes before I dropped it. We all gathered around in a circle and were watching it, when it charged the President!”  
  
“Oh dear gods.”  
  
“In retrospect it was kind of amusing. But the rat latched on to his pants leg and tore off a chunk of the fabric. It was about the size of a small dog then. So we all jumped up onto the lab benches, and the rat was running around hissing and growling and trying to get any of us that it could.”  
  
Gast rubbed his forehead as Silas continued, “Anyway, Lu played ‘the floor is lava’ and made her way over to the phone and called security to come take care of it. Wow, was that rat resilient. It took 20 bullets to put it down, and even then we had to set it on fire.”  
  
“You fired 20 shots in my lab and set a practically rabid creature on fire during your first day as Head of the Science Department?”  
  
“More like 30 shots were fired, I mean, the rat was going everywhere, they missed a few times.”  
  
Gast groaned, covering his face with his hands.  
  
“I really regret setting it on fire…it’s going to be fascinating to dissect that creature. But anyway, the President was thrilled, said to keep up the good work, that he’d be talking to you soon, and left us to it.”  
  
Gast kept his face covered with his hands. “What kind of company do I work for?” He asked rhetorically.  
  
“One hell of an electric company, I can say that much.” Hojo finished up his sandwich.  
  
Gast uncovered his face, “Okay. Okay, that could have gone much worse, all things considered.”  
  
“How about a 'good job, Silas’?”  
  
“Not bad, Silas, and that’s pushing it.”  
  
“Are you coming in this afternoon? I’d like to show you the creature.”  
  
“I’ll come in tomorrow. I’m supposed to be 'sick’ remember? Besides, it sounds like you guys are going to have a lot of cleaning up to do. I bet the place smells terrible. No thanks, I’ll come in tomorrow and inspect the clean up job.”  
  
“So you got me a present?” Hojo asked, changing the subject, “That was nice, considering I introduced you to minor bondage against your will… How did you get out of that anyway?”  
  
“I was in the Boy Scouts when I was a kid. I know my knots.” Gast held out his wrists at Hojo. They were red, with angry looking rub marks.   
  
Hojo winced a little, “Let me get some alcohol and ointment for that.”  
  
Silas retrieved the items and some gauze bandages from the bathroom. He pulled his chair around beside Gast and gently cleaned the scratches, applying the ointment and bandages last. “Feel any better?”  
  
“Yeah, that’s better. Now, close your eyes and I’ll show you your present.”  
  
Hojo rolled his eyes before closing them and standing up. He felt Gast reach around behind his head and pull out the hair tie from his hair, and his hair fell loose around his shoulders.  
  
“I like it this way best,” Gast said, “Okay, over here–no, don’t open your eyes just yet!”  
  
Hojo squinched them shut even tighter. “I’m not!” He felt himself being led through the house, mostly suspicious that this was going to be a practical joke, or payback for tying Gast up. He braced himself.  
  
They paused, and Gast removed his hands from Silas’s shoulders, and Silas felt him kiss his cheek. “Now open them.”  
  
Silas did so, finding himself in the bedroom. Draped across the bed was a tuxedo, Fenora brand. Hojo’s eyes went wide–he didn’t get paid enough in a month to afford something like this. His heart leapt up–there was only one reason Gast would get him so nice a suit.  
  
“You’re taking me to the–”  
  
“–the opera!” Gast said excitedly.  
  
Hojo blinked, looking slightly crestfallen. He had assumed the IANSP gala.  _Stupid_.  
  
“What’s wrong?”  
  
“Oh! Um. Nothing.” Hojo said, realizing he was being a jerk by reacting disappointed to such a lavish gift. “It’s so fancy. Wow, I don’t know how to thank you.”  
  
“Don’t worry about that. I got it for you because I wanted to. Try it on! It should be fitted fairly well.”  
  
Hojo lifted it carefully off the bed, as if it would break at his touch. “Fitted? How? I haven’t gone in for any measurements.”  
  
“Well, I know these tailors, and they can do a pretty good job making a suit based off the best-fitting clothing you bring to them.”  
  
“How did you know what clothes fit me best?”  
  
Gast tapped the side of his head, “I’m a scientist, you know, so I conducted a series of experiments.”  
  
“Oh?” Hojo held the tuxedo up to himself and looked down at it. It looked as though it would fit him pretty well.  
  
“Yes, over the course of several days I observed how various clothes looked on you and formulated a hypothesis.”  
  
“So you’ve just been checking out my ass for the last few days moreso than usual?”  
  
“Basically,” Gast laughed.   
  
Hojo smiled, and then slipped out of his clothes before putting on the tuxedo. He spread out his arms and turned towards Gast after snapping the last button on his vest. “Well?”  
  
“Very dashing,” Gast was grinning hugely, “I might need to get you a second one just to wear around the house. …of course it would never stay on you very long. Damn. …oh! One last thing.”  
  
Gast went over to his dresser and opened a drawer, pulling out a long black strand. “Here,” he said, returning to Silas, draping the strand around his neck, and then proceeding to tie it into a bowtie. “There! Perfect.”  
  
Gast stepped back and whistled. Hojo looked at himself in the mirror and was honestly surprised at what he saw.  _Damn, I do look good._  
  
Gast wandered up behind him, grabbing his ass before he put his arms around Hojo and rested his chin on Hojo’s shoulder.  
  
“Do you have one?” Hojo asked, “What am I saying, of course you do. Go put it on so we can match. I’ve never seen you in one, save in pictures.”  
  
Gast shook his head, “That’s for tomorrow night, at the opera.” Gast admired them in the mirror for another moment before pulling away from Hojo. “You do like that sort of thing, don’t you?”  
  
“I’ve never been before, so I can’t say,” said Hojo, “If I’m bored I’m sure I can find some way to keep myself entertained.” He winked at Gast.  
  
Gast’s eyes went wide and he shook his head, “You’ll behave yourself at the opera.”  
  
“We’ll see.”  
  
Gast sighed and knew it was out of his hands. He just hoped Hojo would mind his own.  
  
Hojo took off the tuxedo and hung it up in the closet. As he was putting his pants on, he asked, “Gast…who are you taking to the gala?”  
  
“Dr. Amelia Trussou,” Gast said, as if it were obvious.  
  
“Ah.” Hojo said, his disappointment finally confirmed. He waited a moment to see if Gast would apologize, or say something else, or…anything.  
  
Gast picked at the gauze bandage on one of his wrists and then wandered into the other room.  
  
Hojo frowned.  _So, what, I’m just supposed to sit here and catch the speech on TV? I guess so, what’s the alternative?_  He began to get a little angry.  
  
“Gast,” he said, following him into the living room, “Are you just…ashamed of me?”  
  
“What?” Gast said, looking surprised, “Silas, no. Of course not.”  
  
“Then why are you taking Dr. Trussou and not me?”  
  
“…Silas, I can’t, that’s why.”  
  
“Why?” Hojo said indignantly, “Is there some rule that prevents you from bringing someone of the same sex?”  
  
“Not explicitly, no,” Gast said. He was looking at the ground.  
  
“Then what’s the problem? Am I not a good enough scientist to bring to the gala?”  
  
“It’s nothing like that, stop putting yourself down.”  
  
“Well what am I supposed to think?!”  
  
Gast sighed, wandering into the kitchen.  
  
“Will you stop walking off and talk to me? This is kind of a huge deal. It’s such a big night for you, and…you don’t want to share it with me? You want me to stay here and watch your speech like everyone else?”  
  
Gast crossed his arms and looked straight at Hojo, “I can’t take you. The sciences are all about progress, sure, but with these sorts of things…it’s very political, Silas. I represent an idea while I’m up there giving a speech, an idea of…the best of what humanity has to offer in the sciences.”  
  
“And the best can’t have a boyfriend? Is that too  _abnormal_? That is some fucked up shit, Gast. In Wutai, no one cares! No one cares about this sort of thing at all! Even now, most don’t here, so what is the problem? If you can’t set an example and show that the best can have boyfriends, then who will? Who is going to criticize  _you_ , Dr. Gast Fucking Faremis? Honestly?”  
  
“Silas,” Gast snapped, “Look, I  _could_  take you, but I won’t. Is that what you wanted to hear?”  
  
Silas looked like he had been slapped. “So that’s it, then. You  _are_  ashamed of me. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t give a shit what people think, you’d want to go running through the streets screaming about us as much as I do. But you don’t. It’s all hush-hush, we can’t taint the perfect reputation of Gast Faremis. You shouldn’t even think of it as a stain. The fact that you do says you have some major issues. I’m good enough to fuck, but not good enough to be seen in public with? That puts me at, what, 20 gil whore level?”  
  
“I.  _Can’t_. Silas. Not to this. I can’t throw away my entire career just because you want to go to a stupid gala.”  
  
“I wasn’t asking you to throw away your whole career, but you know, I’m glad to know where your priorities lie.” Hojo threw back at him bitterly, hands shaking slightly, “And it’s not stupid, but I guess for someone that is  _so damn famous_  it might seem like a waste of time. It’s only that 99.9% of us lowly scientists would give our left hand to get an invitation. Nothing major.”  
  
“You may not be asking that much, but you’re asking me more than you know.”  
  
“I’m only asking you to be honest,” Silas shook his head. “Look, nevermind. I don’t want to fight about this any more. Just…whatever.”  
  
“Do you trust me, Silas?”  
  
“What?”  
  
“Trust me?”  
  
Silas pursed his lips, unsure of how to answer that right now. So he shrugged.  
  
Gast sighed. “It’s going to work out, Silas, okay? When you’re giving your IANSP speech one day, I’ll be happy to be there with you.”  
  
That just made Silas even angrier, but he was tired of arguing. He knew where Gast stood now. Okay. Good to know.  
  
“I have to get back to work. Lunch break is almost over,” Hojo muttered, walking past Gast.  
  
Gast reached out and grabbed Silas’s hand as he passed, squeezing it slightly. Silas shot Gast a glare. Gast simply looked apologetic.  _But unwilling to do anything about it. Feh._  
  
Hojo pulled his hand out of Gast’s, and slammed the front door behind himself.


	6. Just Like You Imagined

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gast heads off to the gala, and Hojo finds out the big surprise Gast had planned for him all along.

Silas had watched Gast go bitterly–the past couple of weeks had been rocky on and off. Gast had been apologizing profusely for the next few days after their fight, but Hojo couldn’t quite let it go, and hadn’t formally forgiven him yet. Even seeing Gast in his tuxedo didn’t make up for the sense of betrayal as he left to go pick up Dr. Amelia Trussou. Before he had left, he simply asked Hojo once again if he trusted him. And, as Silas had been doing for the past couple of weeks, he shrugged. Gast had left with a sigh, reminding Hojo that he loved him.  
  
“You’re an idiot,” Hojo had muttered in Wutaian, and Gast had given him a little smile before heading out. “No,” Hojo said to himself after the door shut behind Gast, “That time I really meant you’re an idiot.”  
  
The house was silent as Hojo sat with his arms crossed in the kitchen. He sighed, went into the living room, and flopped on the couch, turning on the TV to the channel where the speeches and coverage of the IANSP gala would take place. He was in loose pajama pants and a t-shirt, and pulled the blanket off the back of the couch to cover up with. If he was going to have to sit there alone, he might as well be comfortable.  
  
It was still going to be a while before the gala got going, so Hojo found himself looking around the living room. His eyes skimmed over the copious amount of medical books on one of Gast’s bookshelves and he shook his head–he couldn’t imagine having to memorize all of  _that_.  
  
Hojo reached over and grabbed a book on surgery, flipping through it. Gast had highlighted and annotated several sections of it, and he found himself reading his notes on various procedures.  
  
Hojo was teaching himself the basics of exploratory thoracic surgery when he heard the sound of a car honk outside. He ignored it, figuring it was just some cars on the street. Then it honked again. He glanced over the top of his glasses towards the window, but the curtains were drawn and he couldn’t see what was going on. He sighed, pulling the blanket off of himself and started to head towards the window to glance out when he heard a knock on the front door.  
  
He glanced down at himself to double-check that he was dressed decently enough and walked slowly to the front door. He couldn’t imagine who would want to talk to Gast that wouldn’t know he was busy that night. Hojo’s hand paused on the doorknob, wondering if Gast would want him to answer the door. It would look suspicious and might, he didn’t know, imply that they were in a relationship or something.  
  
So he glanced through the peephole to make sure it wasn’t evangelists or a salesperson. He raised both eyebrows when he saw a beautiful dark-skinned woman in a pale yellow evening dress. Behind her, parked on the street, was a limousine. “What the…” Hojo muttered.  
  
“Dr. Hojo!” The woman called out, and he opened the door slowly. She smiled at him once she saw his face. “Come on, Dr. Hojo, we’re going to be late.”  
  
“Uh…?” He said, and glanced down at himself again.  
  
“Oh, don’t worry about that, your tuxedo is in the limo,” She reached out and grabbed his hand, pulling him towards her.  
  
“My…wait, what’s going on?” he asked, hesitating in the doorway.  
  
“Hm? Didn’t Gast tell you?”  
  
“Tell me what?”  
  
She looked at him for a moment, as if gauging if he were serious. Then she smiled, shaking her head. “He must have wanted to surprise you! Oh, dear, this must seem odd… I’ll explain everything on the way.”  
  
“Uh,” Hojo said eloquently, shutting the door behind himself as he followed her out to the limo barefooted, “Forgive me for asking, but who are you?”  
  
She glanced at him over her shoulder, looking surprised. Her heels clicked on the concrete sidewalk. “Oh, I’m so sorry!” She turned and held out her hand, “Dr. Lizbeth Brujon, a pleasure to make your acquaintance. You’ll be my plus-one, won’t you, Dr. Hojo?”  
  
 _Lizbeth Brujon…?_  The name sounded so familiar. Then it clicked, he had just recently read one of her articles in  _Cell_.  
  
“ _The_  Dr. Brujon? The developmental biologist?” Hojo balked, “You discovered the Hox genes in your laboratory, didn’t you? Not to mention so much more… It’s a real pleasure.”  
  
He took her hand, brought it to his mouth, and kissed it awkwardly. He thought being around Gast had made him used to the presence of famous scientists, but he was realizing he was still as much of a fan as ever. “You…you want me to be your plus-one? To the…” It was all starting to dawn on him.  
  
 _Trust me_  Gast had kept telling him. Apparently Silas wasn’t the only one who could create elaborate plans to get what he wanted…  
  
“Yes, to the IANSP gala! Now, come on dear, we’re going to be late. Fashionably late, of course, but…we don’t want to push it.” She grinned.  
  
Silas hurried in front of her to the limo, opening the door for her and helping her inside. He hurried around to the other side and hopped in. His heart was racing–he was actually going to the gala! And with Dr. Brujon, no less?  
  
“Go ahead and get dressed, sweetie,” she said, “I’ll just keep my eyes out the window until you’re finished.”  
  
Hojo found his tuxedo hanging on a hook in back of the limo. He unhooked it, glanced at the back of Dr. Brujon’s head, and then quickly undressed and put it on. “Okay, I’m finished,” he said, buttoning up his vest.   
  
She turned back around, helped him straighten it out, and then reached over and grabbed his dress shoes and socks. “Here,” she said, “you’ll need these. But first let me put on your bowtie.” She quickly tied it for him, then sat back, leaning her back against the car door opposite him. She tilted her head, glancing him up and down, and smirked. “Well, well, someone cleans up nicely. Gast picked a good one.”  
  
“You mean you…know?” He asked cautiously. Gast had been so adamant that no one knew about them, or Hojo would have told Lu ages ago.  
  
“Know about the two of you? Of course! Gast can’t keep his mouth shut about you when he’s out with Amelia and me.”  
  
“Amelia…Trussou?” I asked. Things were clicking together.  
  
“Mhm, she’s been my partner for 15 years now,” Dr. Brujon sighed happily, “As much as I wanted to take her to the gala, her parents and several of her friends wouldn’t have approved. It’s…more complicated than that, but they don’t know we’re together, and we want to keep it that way. So Gast, sweetheart that he is, listened to our plight and said he’d use his extra invitation to take Amelia if I’d use mine to take you. That way we could all meet up together at the gala and no one would be the wiser.”  
  
Hojo felt a little guilty for being so hard on Gast for the past couple of weeks.  _Still, he should have told me, that asshole._  Hojo thought fondly.  _It would have saved a lot of strife, and Gast wouldn’t have had to sleep on the couch that one week if he would have just let me in on his plan._  
  
 _Do you trust me?_  Gast had asked.  
  
 _I do now. I’ll never doubt you again, my dear moron._  
  
The limo ride went by fast as Hojo found himself chatting excitedly with Dr. Brujon. She was an excellent conversationalist, and didn’t seem to mind Hojo’s awkward attempts to keep up with her in that fashion. She talked a bit about her current work, and asked Hojo about his dissertation and work he had done to earn his PhD. He told her about his past projects, knowing they were nothing compared to the work she was doing, but she smiled politely and was interested anyway.  
  
The limo pulled up in front of the Three Winters Hotel convention center, and Hojo was surprised at the amount of people there. There was a red carpet and everything–he wondered if this was how movie stars felt as he stepped out of the limo and helped Dr. Brujon out. She smiled her perfect smile and waved at the cameras. Hojo held out his arm and she took it, and together they made their way through the large double doors of the center.  
  
Gast was waiting in the antechamber, smoking a cigarette and holding a flute of champagne while chatting with a mousy-looking woman in a dark blue evening gown. Gast’s eye caught them first, and he smiled widely at the sight of Silas.   
  
“Dr. Hojo! Dr. Brujon!” he said, making his way over with who Hojo assumed was Amelia Trussou.  
  
Gast had his arms out and embraced Silas tightly, nearly spilling his champagne.  
  
“I’m so glad you could make it, dearest,” Gast whispered in Hojo’s ear.  
  
“You’re a dick for not telling me,” Hojo whispered back.  
  
Gast chuckled, “I’m so sorry, Silas, I never meant to hurt you. I nearly told you, but I really wanted to surprise you with this. Forgive me?”  
  
“I don’t know. Depends on whether or not you’ll be seen in public with me or not. I mean, it always being such a secret is what bothers me.”  
  
Gast let go of Hojo, leaning back from him as he took a drag on his cigarette and then sipped his champagne. “Does this answer your question?” He asked, leaning forward again and kissing Silas deeply. Silas could taste the smoke and champagne, and put his hand behind Gast’s head, pulling him closer.   
  
Silas reluctantly broke the kiss off. They had earned a few looks, one or two disapproving, and Silas flipped them off with the hand still behind Gast’s head. They looked scandalized and went inside the convention center. Dr. Brujon and Dr. Trussou were both smiling at the two of them.  
  
“Oh! How rude of me,” Gast exclaimed, turning away from Hojo towards the girls. “Silas, I know you’ve met the lovely Lizbeth, but this delightful lady is Dr. Amelia Trussou."   
  
"Pleased to meet you, Dr. Trussou,” Hojo said.   
  
“Oh, please, call me Amelia,” she replied, moving close to Silas and putting her arm around him as she kissed both of his cheeks. “Gast can hardly go a minute without mentioning you in some way.”  
  
Hojo smiled at Gast and he just shrugged as if saying “guilty as charged” before taking another puff on his cigarette and looking around for somewhere to put it out.  
  
“I thought you didn’t want anyone to know about us,” Silas asked curiously.   
  
Gast shrugged. “At first, I admit, I didn’t… But you made some good points a few weeks ago, and I realized I don’t care. I’m so  _proud_  of you, Silas. Not ashamed. And I don’t care who knows about us.”  
  
Silas felt like he was on top of the world for the first time in ages. “All right, fine, I forgive you for being an ass.”  
  
“I promise next year I’ll take you to the gala.”  
  
“So long as Lizbeth and Amelia have some way of coming. Now that I know about your diabolical plan, I don’t mind coming with Lizbeth at all.”  
  
“We’ll work something out next year. For now, we’re here, so let’s enjoy ourselves, Gast said, eyeing Hojo’s empty hands, "You don’t have a glass of champagne! We have to remedy that for Silas and Lizbeth, don’t you agree Amelia?”  
  
“I concur,” Amelia said, taking Gast’s arm. Lizbeth took Hojo’s and they all went inside.  
  
Hojo marveled at the inside of the convention center. He recognized several of the scientists, recalling the work they had to their name with glee.  
  
“I’ll introduce you, in a minute,” Gast said, catching Hojo’s eye. Hojo smiled a little, feeling a tad shy. He hadn’t earned this yet, he knew, but felt so lucky despite himself.  
  
Gast poured him a flute of champagne, and was bombarded with fellow scientists. He handed the flute to Hojo and politely chatted with his colleagues, pulling Silas into the conversation before he finally broke it off.  
  
“Time to get your name out there,” Gast said to Silas, pulling him towards a group of scientists Hojo recognized as world-renowned physicists. Silas couldn’t help but blush slightly as Gast bragged on him to his idols, moving from one group to the next, his hand always on Hojo’s shoulder, occasionally squeezing it lightly.  
  
Finally Gast showed Hojo their seats near the front of the dining area. They sat beside each other, with Amelia and Lizbeth sitting across from their respective dates.  
  
The dinner was exquisite, far better than Gast’s cooking, Hojo mused, enjoying the juiciness of his duck. A tuxedo clad man came over and tapped Gast on the shoulder, whispering something to him. Gast nodded, then stood to follow the man.  
  
“Well wish me luck,” Gast said, “I’m off to make my speech.”  
  
Hojo tugged on his coattails and Gast leaned down, expecting Silas to whisper something into his ear, but Hojo kissed the corner of his mouth. Gast turned towards him, kissing him on the lips.  
  
“Mm that’s all the luck I need,” Gast said, looking into Hojo’s eyes.  
  
Hojo smirked back at him, “It’ll be a masterpiece. Now go wow us.”  
  
Gast smiled and left, heading towards the back stage. Hojo’s eyes lingered on Gast’s ass as he disappeared behind the curtain, then he glanced over at Lizbeth, who was giving him a knowing grin.  
  
Hojo coughed and looked at his plate.   
  
Shortly after the speeches began. The convention center quieted down as they listened to the announcer introducing the first speaker.  
  
Gast was second. Hojo beamed with pride as he was introduced, his list of accomplishments rattled on in front of everyone. Hojo thought he looked radiant as he took his spot on stage.   
  
Gast smiled, a practiced speaker, and began his speech. Hojo admired how articulate he was, and listened closely since Gast had been refusing to share his speech with him. At the end, Hojo stood and clapped, pleased to see that he wasn’t the only one. Gast bowed, thanking the crowd, and the blew a kiss to Silas. Silas knew the media would interpret it as going to Amelia, his date, but he didn’t care. He knew the truth.  
  
After the speeches were over, Gast rejoined Hojo. “Did I make a fool of myself?” Gast asked.  
  
“It was terribly awkward and not at all what I’d call refined, but it’ll suffice, assuming most people weren’t listening.”  
  
“Oh, good. Did you catch my kiss?”  
  
“Nope, it floated off and hit that pretty blonde behind us. I’m terribly jealous,” Hojo said, smirking.  
  
“Oh dear, my aim is off, let me do some calibrations,” Gast said, leaning over and kissing him. Hojo ran his fingers through Gast’s hair, impossibly proud of him.  
  
“Dance with me?” Gast asked, listening to the music. A waltz. Hojo shook his head.  
  
“I don’t know how to waltz,” Hojo said quickly, as Gast pulled him out of his chair anyway.   
  
“Just step on my feet and follow my lead,” Gast said, pulling him out onto the dance floor. Hojo glanced around nervously. “No, look here,” Gast pointed at his eyes.  
  
Hojo complied, and they danced. Hojo winced every time he stomped on Gast’s feet, but it only seemed to make Gast smile more. At the end Gast dipped him back, leaning down and kissing his neck.  
  
It was one of the best nights of Silas’s life. As he straightened back up, he could only look at Gast and imagine how they’d top this night in the future. It wasn’t easy to think of how it would get any better.  
  
When it was finally over, Amelia and Lizbeth said their goodbyes and headed up to their hotel rooms–they supposedly had separate ones, but they would definitely pick their favorite one and stay together. Gast called up a limo and climbed in with Silas.  
  
“Was it just like you imagined?” Gast asked, squeezing his hand.  
  
“Meh,” Hojo said with a smile.  
  
“Well maybe this will help,” Gast said, moving onto the floorboard of the limo as he fiddled with Silas’s pant’s zipper.  
  
They barely had time to finish as the limo pulled up to Gast’s house. Gast tipped the driver generously and the took Silas’s hand, dragging him inside.  
  
They were both happy they didn’t have work the next day. They probably wouldn’t have gone anyway.  
  
“Move in with me, Silas? I’d be happy to have you here. You complete me.”  
  
“You’re an idiot,” Hojo laughed in Wutaian, “I thought you’d never ask.”


End file.
